Africa

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, is welcomed by teachers and students at a girls’ primary school in Kabul, Afghanistan. Sherif led the first all-women UN mission to Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover to meet with the new de facto education authorities in October 2021. She has called on the de facto authorities to resume adolescent girls’ access to secondary education. Credit: Omid Fazel/ECW

By Naureen Hossain
New York, Mar 28 2022 (IPS)

The late-night reversal of a decision by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to allow girls from grades 7 to 12 to return to school has been met with distress from within the country and internationally – and fear that it could herald further restrictions.

A Taliban spokesperson from the Ministry of Education on March 23 made the announcement reversing an earlier decision that all students would be expected to return to school, including girls.

Local media in Afghanistan reported protests, including one held outside the Ministry of Education building. At least 87 percent of the population favor girls’ education across all levels, even among those who may say they would not expect the girls in their family to attend school but would not oppose government schooling otherwise.

The abrupt decision has also taken humanitarian organizations by surprise. Sam Mort, Chief of Communications for UNICEF Afghanistan, spoke at a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters, revealing that this announcement came late.

“Among our staff, there was collective disbelief… and anxiety,” Mort said, speaking of the reaction of field officers and national staff to the news. “We are just as confused as everyone else.”

The Taliban’s decision has been met with swift condemnation from the international community. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement said the Taliban’s decision was “a major setback for girls and their future” and urging them to “honor their commitment to girls’ education without any further delays”.

Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations’ global fund for children’s education, said: “With this announcement, an entire generation of Afghan children and adolescents could be left behind.”

Sherif said that “ensuring that both girls and boys can return to school – including the resumption of adolescent girls’ access to secondary education – is key for the development of the country.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Taliban’s decision was “a profound disappointment and deeply damaging for Afghanistan”.

UN agencies, their partners, and other humanitarian organizations have been involved in discussions with the Taliban since their rise to power last August. Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis leaves 24.4 million people – or more than half the population – in dire need of aid and protection.

Both sides have been expected to negotiate the involvement of humanitarian organizations and donors in their capacity to provide the necessary services and protections.

The Taliban have expressed their readiness to comply with international organizations in their bid for formal legitimacy. But they have also asserted their code for governance, which they claim would be according to Islamic law and Afghan culture, something humanitarian organizations with education programs are working to adapt. This same reasoning that senior members of the Taliban have used to justify the ban on secondary education for girls. Where was this concern for a standardized curriculum aligning with Islamic law and Afghan culture when boys returned to secondary school in September?

The right to education has been an oft-discussed, critical human rights issue for Afghanistan, especially when it comes to how, or even if, this right is extended to girls. This concern had already been compounded by the forced closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted all school-going children and adolescents. While alternative learning pathways, including Community-Based Education centers based in rural and remote provinces for children to attend, have been available, girls’ education in government schools remained a lingering question.

The Taliban’s rise to power raised the fear that the right to education would be denied to girls indefinitely, if not permanently. It would only signal increasing measures to control women’s rights and mobility beyond the domestic sphere.

The last-minute decision may likely indicate infighting between factions that are divided on the issue of girls’ education.

As Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women’s Rights Division in Human Rights Watch, notes, there are factions that recognize the steps the Taliban must take to receive the funding and legitimacy they want from the international community, and there are hardliner members who believe that girls beyond puberty should not be allowed out for their studies. Given their handling of the issue, it is only indicative of how unprepared the Taliban are to govern and provide the necessary services to a population where over half the population relies on international humanitarian aid.

Barr also notes that their decision speaks to the ingrained beliefs that view women through a misogynistic and reductive lens. She expresses concern that the Taliban’s decision does not bode well for the state of human rights in the country and may “herald a further crackdown, of girls and women, and human rights generally”. The decision to revoke girls’ access to secondary school education is only among several examples of the recent actions taken by the Taliban to police women’s movements across the country, with stricter, more frequent enforcements occurring in provinces outside the capital.

“We’ve been seeing more and more different restrictions put in place, including new rules on women’s freedom of movement and them being blocked from traveling without a mahram overseas, being blocked from traveling… over certain distances,” says Barr. “Taxi drivers being told that women need to wear a hijab before they are allowed to drive them.”

When it comes to girls’ education, if the ban on girls’ secondary education continues, this could escalate to the restriction of access to tertiary education for girls and women in the country.

What is harrowing is that even as public pressure and condemnation come from both sides, the Taliban continues to act upon the principles which even they cannot agree on. International leaders and experts have reiterated that education for all can only guarantee that developing or impoverished countries can walk down a path of peace and prosperity. For the girls and women of Afghanistan, they may not get to walk down that path without a chaperone.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Climate change is reversing some of Africa's gains in achieving Sustainable Development Goals in food security and poverty alleviation and the continent needed to build resilience against future shocks. Credit: Busani Bafana/ IPS

By Busani Bafana
KIGALI, Rwanda, Mar 28 2022 (IPS)

The COVID-19 pandemic reversed several development gains on the continent, and Africa’s leaders are convinced stronger cooperation in boosting investment in green growth will help Africa meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

African economies took a hit during the pandemic, which governments say has led to reverse progress made in health care, education, poverty alleviation, food security, and industrialisation as part of delivering on the SDGs adopted by the UN in September 2015.

The 8th Session of the African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) – an annual multi-stakeholder platform system to review and catalyse actions to achieve the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, heard how Africa is on the cusp of opportunity in building better through green investment.

But the opportunity will only be unlocked when African countries cooperate more and deepen political and economic relations.

A springboard and not a setback
“Building the Africa we want is up to us,” said Rwanda President Paul Kagame, who opened the Forum convened in the capital, Kigali. He urged Africa to prioritise domestic resource mobilisation to finance its development, particularly its national health care systems.

“Over the years, Africa had made significant progress in tackling economic challenges. However, COVID 19 has slowed the development gains in some cases reversed progress,” Kagame noted. He called for solid mechanisms to monitor and change the implementation of the SDGs. “We have to own and lead the process and support one another. That’s why these agendas [2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063] are important because it is about achieving the stability and sustainability of our continent.”

Organised jointly by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and host governments in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other entities of the UN, the ARFSD was this year convened under the theme, ‘Building forward better: a green, inclusive and resilient Africa poised to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063’. The two agendas provide a collaborative structure for achieving inclusive and people-centred sustainable development in Africa.

“We have to look at the silver lining of this [COVID-19]. We can build an Africa that is greener and more resilient in line with the Agenda 2063 … instead of being a setback, the pandemic response can be a springboard to recover human development,” said Kagame remarking that Africa needs bilateral partnerships to strengthen vaccine manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, mobilise domestic financing and adopt suitable technologies and infrastructure.

More than 1800 participants comprising ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners from United Nations Member States, the private sector, civil society, academia and United Nations organisations and high-level representatives of the Governments of 54 ECA members states participated at the 8th ARFSD.

“The fate of the SDGs will be decided in Africa,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed noted. She explained that the pandemic had increased debt distress in some African countries and called for the channelling of Special Drawing Rights allocated by the International Monetary Fund to help countries in need.

“There are big returns to be had in Africa,” said Mohammed admitting that the African continent has faced development and economic challenges which need addressing for Africa to succeed.

Mohamed said in achieving the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, Africa must prioritise ending the pandemic and building resilience to future shocks, scaling up climate resilience, with developed countries honouring their pledges and making a fast transition in energy and food systems. She said recovering education losses and supporting gender equality actions were key to winning the development battle.

Africa is winning
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ECA, Vera Songwe, highlighted that Africa, despite the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s recovery efforts, the continent has achieved several wins.

Songwe said Rwanda’s vaccination of more than 70 percent of its population was a win Africa can emulate, citing that only 17 percent of Africans have been vaccinated, and 53 percent of African countries have vaccines that are not being used.

“Africa will not open, and our economies will not recover if we do not vaccinate,” Vera warned. “The conversations in most forums like this is about vaccine appetite. But when we stand here today, we talk about vaccine success…. We can win by looking at our neighbours, the seven countries on the continent that have managed to vaccinate – succeeded in vaccinating 70 percent of their population, and that’s the first win.”

Songwe underlined that the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) was another win for Africa to boost trade and spur economic growth. She cited that in 2022, not one economy was going into a full-blown debt crisis in Africa.

Africa had traded more with itself than it has in the five years before COVID-19, essentially because Africa had to rely on itself to begin to trade PPEs, she said.

ECA notes that COVID-19 and climate change have highlighted Africa’s vulnerabilities and food security insecurity. Africa needs an estimated $63.8bn in annual financing needs to meet the SDGs for ten years.

Despite representing just 17 percent of the global population and emitting 4 percent of global pollution, Africa was the worst impacted by climate change.

African economies are losing on average 5 percent of their GDP because of climate change. This has increased to 15 percent in some countries, says Linus Mofor, a senior environmental expert at ECA. He explained that Africa had shown leadership on climate action, with all but two African countries having ratified the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement has ambitious Nationally Determined Commitments that require up to $3 trillion to implement.

Noting the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 and climate change on Africa’s quest to realise the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, Director, Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Division at ECA, Jean-Paul Adam, said Africa’s current assessments on the implementation progress of the two agendas indicate that most African nations are off-track to achieve the targets and set-goals of the two development blueprints within the set timeframe.

“While a sliver of good news against the COVID-19 pandemic reflects resilience and recovery through vaccines rollouts, health preparedness and responses, Africa has shown its willingness to overcome and prevail over its complex development challenges, Adam told IPS.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK, Mar 28 2022 (IPS)

When hundreds of banks, commercial enterprises, financial institutions and Wall Street investment banks shuttered their offices because of spreading coronavirus infections, Mayor Eric Adams said “You cannot run New York City” – one of the world’s most vibrant cities – “from home”.

The restrictions included vaccine cards at restaurants and mandatory masks in public.

Adams, who took over as the 110th Mayor of New York city on January 1, has been critical of executive heads of thousands of banks, commercial enterprises, financial institutions and Wall Street investment firms, for shuttering their offices and barring their staff from offices because of the spreading new coronavirus infections.

On January 13, Adams told reporters at a news conference outside the Manhattan Civil Courthouse in New York, “Let’s be clear on this, we are winning — and we are going to win because we are resilient.”

According to Cable News Network (CNN), the spread of the Omicron variant is also “putting a strain on health care networks across the US as hospitalizations reach a level not seen since winter.”

More than 141,000 Americans were hospitalized with Covid-19 as of last week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Separately, the agency announced that health insurers must cover the cost of home Covid-19 tests.

This means most people with private health insurance can buy at-home tests online or in stores and have them paid for at the time of purchase, or get reimbursed by submitting a claim to their insurer.

In a message to staffers, CNN said its offices in New York city would remain closed except “to those who absolutely need to be there.”

A survey mid-January by the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, found about 22 percent of 187 companies said they could not estimate when their offices would reach even half capacity. The survey included about 215,000 workers in white-collar fields.

Some of the major financial institutions that enforced remote working included Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase Dow Jones (which includes the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones news wires, Barron’s, Financial News and MarketWatch)

Families arrive in Berdyszcze, Poland, after crossing the border from Ukraine, fleeing escalating conflict. Credit: UNICEF/Tom Remp

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Mar 28 2022 (IPS)

It is hard to describe the excruciatingly painful destruction Putin is inflicting on Ukraine. However, whereas NATO should provide Ukraine with active defensive military equipment, it should not directly join the war which could ignite a major European if not world war.

Righting the Wrong

There are growing voices from academia, the military, and former and current American and EU officials calling on the Biden administration to heed Ukrainian President Zelensky’s appeal to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Beyond a no-fly zone, they raise a legitimate question —do the US and its allies have a limit as to how far and for how long Russia’s President Putin can indiscriminately bombard Ukrainian cities, killing thousands of innocent men, women, and children, before NATO intervenes to end the slaughter?

Indeed, everyone with a conscience feels the horror of this unprovoked and utterly unjustified war. However, if we want to prevent an all-out war in Europe, we have to be extraordinarily prudent and not allow our sense of outrage about the war succumb to our compassion and moral obligation, albeit it should be the right thing to do.

There are many reasons why we should not confront Russia directly, especially now that we are taking many non-military measures, including crippling sanctions, while remaining united and resolved to indirectly inflict heavy military losses on Russia and render it a pariah state.

In addition, once they become aware of the unspeakable horror Putin is inflicting on the people and cities of a peaceful neighbor, the Russian people would rise against their corrupt and brutal leader who is misleading them and subjecting them to nothing but more pain and misery.

Here are several reasons why NATO should not get directly involved in this horrific war and what it must do to inflict indirectly the heaviest toll on the Russian army while exposing Putin as a war criminal.

First, introducing a no-fly zone would pit NATO directly against Russia, as it will require an extensive campaign against Russian jet fighter planes, as well as destroying Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, which Russia would certainly use to intercept NATO missiles enforcing a no-fly zone. This move would escalate and draw NATO into a broader war.

Second, at the present the Russian people are demonstrating in growing numbers against the war as the public is becoming increasingly informed, with nearly 5,000 arrested at protests. However, if NATO intervenes and expands beyond Ukraine’s borders, and NATO begins to attack numerous targets inside Russia, it would doubtless galvanize Russians against Western powers, when in fact the precise opposite is what the NATO alliance wants to realize.

Third, several European countries who are not NATO members, especially Sweden and Finland, do not want NATO to go to war with Russia, fearing that they would eventually be dragged into it without having NATO’s protection, such as the case with Ukraine. They prefer to see Putin suffer from the consequences of his ill-fated misadventure.

Fourth, while most military analysts agree that Russia will lose any conventional war against NATO, given Russia’s history and imperial mindset, losing a conventional war against NATO will be a recipe for the next war between them. This would destabilize Europe for decades, which should be avoided unless Russia attacks any NATO member state first.

Fifth, by avoiding direct military involvement, NATO will spare the lives of tens if not hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides. And so long as the West continues to supply Ukraine with military equipment while Russia is sustaining crimpling sanction and heavy military losses, NATO should continue with this strategy which may precipitate a coup inside Russia itself.

Sixth, a direct confrontation with Russia could deliberately or accidently escalate and engulf many countries beyond the European theater. This will essentially put us at the precipice of World War III. This must be avoided by any means possible unless Russia attacks first and leaves the West with no choice other than waging an all-out war against Russia.

Seventh, prior to escalating the conflict with Russia, NATO must consider where China stands. As Putin’s atrocities are exposed, the Chinese may well heed the US’ call to play a constructive role by using its influence on Putin to end the war without further catastrophic losses. Given however the closeness between Putin and President Xi, the latter would not do so if NATO engages Russia militarily.

Eighth, given that Russia’s conventional weapons are still limited and considerably inferior to the combined forces of NATO, and given Russia’s considerable losses, Putin may resort out of desperation to using tactical nuclear weapons which is the mother of all catastrophes. This is the worst of all possible scenarios. The US and its allies must spare no effort to prevent it.

Finally, regardless of how distasteful it would seem to make any concession to Putin to end the conflict, we need to weigh the consequences of a prolonged war on the Ukrainian people. To avoid that, it will be necessary to offer Putin a face-saving way out, bearing in mind that there are no other realistic alternatives.

This may include Ukraine becoming a neutral country and committing not to join NATO, to which President Zelensky has already conceded. And instead of recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, as Putin is demanding, Zelensky could offer to declare these two provinces semi-autonomous and also agree to acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, which in any case Russia is unlikely to ever relinquish.

An agreement along these lines would make Ukraine a buffer zone between East and West as long as its independence, national security, and territorial integrity are guaranteed by both Russia and the US.

This general framework for a solution is neither fair nor morally correct, but it must be weighed against the potential continuing massive destruction and loss of lives in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands. Moreover, the prolongation of the war could escalate and pit NATO against Russia with the potential of introducing weapons of mass destruction, which will be catastrophic and of unprecedented scale and must be avoided at any cost.

Any war, regardless of causes and circumstances, is tragic. Though the Ukrainians have and continue to suffer unimaginably, the big loser is Russia and Putin in particular. The Russian people, who are acutely suffering from the sanctions, will sooner than later find out the scale of destruction and death that Putin has inflicted on a peaceful neighbor, which many Russians believe to be historically, culturally, and linguistically part of Russia.

It is incomprehensible to many how their leader, who has been invoking this affinity to Ukraine, would wage such merciless war against innocent men, women, and children, and decimate their cities to a degree unseen since World War II. Putin knows that; he is boxed in and desperately needs a way out.

Putin will be watching carefully what comes out of the summit between NATO heads of states. The message Putin should receive must be unequivocal, clear, and absolutely credible. He should be warned that NATO’s response to the use of any kind of weapons of mass destruction will be quick, decisive, and painful, which would render Russia a bankrupt, pariah, and failed state, and he will personally be charged with war crimes.

Putin will be remembered as the Russian despot who not only failed to restore his pipe dream of the Russian Empire but savagely destroyed Russia’s international standing, from which it will take decades to recover.

The West must learn a cogent lesson from this gruesome war and remain united, vigilant, militarily prepared, and become energy independent from Russia. They should know that the Russian bear will still be lurking in the dark for years if not decades to come, but will dare not threaten the West knowing that only a humiliating and costly defeat will await him.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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This statement is attributed to Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

By External Source
Mar 25 2022 (IPS-Partners)

Despite the assurance that they are “committed to the right to education of all citizens,” Afghanistan’s de facto authorities announced this week that they will not allow girls to attend secondary school until further notice.

To support a peaceful and prosperous future for all Afghans, the de facto authorities must ensure the right to education for all children and adolescents across the country. Ensuring that both girls and boys can return to school – including the resumption of adolescent girls’ access to secondary education – is key for the development of the country.

While boys have been able to access primary and secondary school since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, girls’ access to education has been limited to primary school in most of Afghanistan’s provinces. With this announcement, an entire generation of Afghan children and adolescents could be left behind.

Afghanistan faces a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with over half the population – 24.4 million people – in need of humanitarian and protection assistance. Today, an estimated 8 million school-aged children need urgent support to access education.

This is a crucial moment for the de facto authorities to make good on their commitments. The time has come to fulfill the right to education for all girls and boys in the country. Knowledge is the pillar of any flourishing nation.

ECW has been supporting community-based education in Afghanistan since 2018, together with our strategic partners in the UN system, donors and civil society, reaching children in the most challenging contexts. The ECW-supported Multi-Year Resilience Programme focused on the most marginalized children, including a strong focus on female teachers and girls’ education, with 60% of all children reached being girls.

Tshegofatso Pule was found hanging from a tree, provoking outrage across South Africa.

With the bloody war in Ukraine dragging on, can the G20 still justify procrastination on the global anti-corruption agenda? Credit: Marianela Jarroud/IPS

By Blair Glencorse and Sanjeeta Pant
WASHINGTON DC, Mar 25 2022 (IPS)

The world has quickly transitioned from a global health crisis to a geopolitical one, as the war in Ukraine rages into its second month. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just the latest in a long list of challenges that at their heart are either caused by or exacerbated by corruption.

Just this year, think of the protests in Sudan, the coup in Burkina Faso, the nationwide demonstrations in Kazakhstan, or the Portuguese elections, for example- all driven, one way or another, by graft.

While G20 countries have made progress within their national borders, there are often lax laws in offshore tax havens that are under their jurisdictions. Equally, beneficial ownership data should not just be open (to regulators and enforcement agencies), it should be public. Citizens and civil society everywhere should be able to monitor conflicts of interest or relationships between policymakers and corporations, free of charge

Now- countries including the US and Europe– are coming together to freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs, but this is not just about Putin’s kleptocracy. As world leaders meet at the G20 next week, it is imperative that they step-up further to fight corruption both at home and abroad.

The Civil-20 (C20), which engages the G20 on behalf of civil society, has been calling for increased accountability from world leaders on critical anti-corruption issues for a long time. The war in Ukraine has only reinforced the need for a focus on the priorities identified by the C20 this year.

First, combating money laundering and the recovery of stolen assets. There are numerous studies that indicate that as much as 85% of Russia’s GDP is laundered into countries including the UK and the US.

There are networks of enablers in Western countries that facilitate this process- from accountants, to lawyers to real estate agents (known as Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs).

But according to the data collected by Accountability Lab for the G20 Anti-Corruption Commitments Tracker, not all G20 member countries are compliant with FATF recommendations on DNFBP due diligence.

Similarly, others do not have effective frameworks to disclose information on recovered assets. Recognizing the increased risks to anti-money laundering and asset recovery efforts from such omissions, the C20 has called for verified beneficial ownership data through public registers; and the assessment of the effectiveness of measures adopted by the G20 member countries including sanctions for non-compliance.

Second, countering corruption in the energy transition. The G20 Indonesian Presidency has included a sustainable energy transition as a priority issue for 2022. More and more countries, especially in Europe, are cutting ties with Russian energy supplies, which will lead to a more rapid shift of resources towards renewables- but the potential in this for corruption is huge.

Certain countries and energy companies have a variety of incentives to maintain the status quo in corrupt ways; while the supply chains for raw materials for renewable energy are also wide-open for illicit activities. G20 countries urgently need to better understand the level and types of corruption in renewables; and commit to providing transparent data around licensing contracts and budgets.

In this, grassroots civil society groups can be valuable allies by filling information gaps and closing feedback loops in communities affected by renewable energy related projects.

Third, the transparency and integrity of corporations. The recent sanctions against Russian oligarchs have renewed focus on corporate governance and how corporate compliance on issues like foreign bribery, corruption and conflict of interests- including in state owned enterprises and public private partnerships (PPP)- are effectively enforced.

For instance, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) focuses on anti-bribery and internal controls- and is likely to be further enforced, particularly in countries with close ties to Russia.

But beyond this, G20 member countries must also live up to past commitments to strengthen transparency and integrity in business by criminalizing private sector bribery; enacting whistleblower policies in the private sector; and ensuring accounting and auditing standards to prohibit off-the-book accounts.

Fourth, beneficial ownership transparency. The level of secrecy used by Russian oligarchs to hide assets through shell companies, trusts, partnerships and foundations has been headline news. Concerns around beneficial ownership transparency data (the data on who really owns companies) is not new (see this call to action for example).

While G20 countries have made progress within their national borders, there are often lax laws in offshore tax havens that are under their jurisdictions. Equally, beneficial ownership data should not just be open (to regulators and enforcement agencies), it should be public. Citizens and civil society everywhere should be able to monitor conflicts of interest or relationships between policymakers and corporations, free of charge.

It still costs $40 to access beneficial ownership data in Indonesia for instance- making this far too expensive for the average citizen. All G20 countries should lead by example and commit to open, public beneficial ownership registers.

Finally, Open Contracting. The recent focus on how the Russian military may have misused procurement processes has sadly highlighted again the importance of due diligence and open data. Civil society has unequivocally called on G20 member countries to proactively disclose information at every step of public procurement processes, in line with Open Contracting Data Standards as well as the Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard, and to increase audit and citizen oversight in public procurement.

These reforms are past due. At the same time, successful initiatives like Opentender.net in Indonesia show how civil society can partner with governments to ensure citizen led oversight and the transparency of public procurement.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis is a stark reminder of how corruption issues must be central to any discussion about the causes and solutions to geo-political problems. The C20 has already outlined for G20 leaders how to address these issues- they now have the responsibility to implement these reforms.

Even in peace-time, the economic and human costs of corruption are massive. With the bloody war in Ukraine dragging on, can the G20 still justify procrastination on the global anti-corruption agenda?

Blair Glencorse is Executive Director of the Accountability Lab and is the International Co-Chair of the Civil 20 Anti-Corruption Working Group in 2022.

Sanjeeta Pant is a Programs and Learning Manager at Accountability Lab and leads the G20 Anti-Corruption Commitments Tracker. Follow the Lab on Twitter @accountlab and the C20 @C20EG

WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa with Mother Theresa of Calcutta in the early years of a campaign to eliminate leprosy and eradicate stigma from those affected by it. Sasakawa has turned this into his life’s work and, speaking at a webinar in support of the ‘Don’t Forget Leprosy’ campaign recalled how people affected by leprosy continue to be marginalized. Credit: Joyce Chimbi

By Joyce Chimbi
Nairobi, Kenya, Mar 25 2022 (IPS)

On a visit to Indonesia’s Papua Province, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa had dinner with a man forced from his village and living alone because he was affected by leprosy.

Over the years, Sasakawa saw many other desperate and desolate people infected and affected by leprosy. Marginalized, shunned, stigmatized, feared, and relegated to society’s furthest and hidden corners.

“Until I became ambassador, persons affected by leprosy tended to be on the receiving end of assistance. But I felt this was not the solution because this was contributing to self-stigma. I felt it was important for the public to know that they had been cured of their disease and were active,” Sasakawa, also the Nippon Foundation Chairman, says.

“I wanted to speak out, even though they had suffered from severe discrimination for a long time and were afraid that if they spoke up, they would be targeted afresh.”

Sasakawa spoke of his belief that persons affected by leprosy should take the lead in eliminating prejudice and discrimination and of partnerships with NGOs, academic institutions, and many other efforts to eliminate leprosy.

Sasakawa was speaking in support of the ‘Don’t Forget Leprosy’ campaign webinar series by the Sasakawa Leprosy Initiative under the theme, ‘Elimination of Leprosy: Initiatives in Asia.’

Under the Sasakawa Leprosy Initiative, the WHO Goodwill Ambassador, the Nippon Foundation, and Sasakawa Health Foundation work in coordination to achieve a leprosy-free world.

“The ‘Don’t Forget Leprosy’ campaign is significant. COVID-19 took attention away from other diseases, including leprosy. Leprosy continues to be a challenge. We must stay on the mission to detect, treat and eliminate leprosy,” Tarun Das, chairman of Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF), told participants.

Sasakawa recounted Asia’s journey towards the long-term vision of zero leprosy, zero infection, disease, zero disability, and zero stigma and discrimination. Sasakawa spoke of the many challenges encountered along the way, the triumphs, and the journey into a leprosy-free world.

Triumphs include availability and provision of effective leprosy treatment and particularly the critical role played by the Nippon Foundation in reducing the number of patients with leprosy by ensuring Multiple Drug Therapy (MDT) treatment was available and free to all persons affected by leprosy.

WHO Goodwill Ambassador Yohei Sasakawa speaking during a webinar on ongoing initiatives in Asia to eliminate leprosy. Credit: Joyce Chimbi

Sasakawa also told participants about the Dalai Lama Sasakawa Scholarship with matching funding from the Nippon Foundation in support of children from families affected by leprosy.

“It has not been an easy journey,” he said, but the answer for Sasakawa to solve these challenges is: “We will not know until we try.”

Dr David Pahan, the country director of Lepra Bangladesh, spoke about leprosy as a neglected tropical disease and is least prioritized by the health system.

He told participants that the leprosy program further faced sudden and significant challenges induced by COVID-19, leaving persons affected by leprosy highly vulnerable.

“In response, we provided advice and emergency assistance to people affected by leprosy or acute disability in households threatened by the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh,” Pahan told participants.

Pahan stressed the need for early treatment to prevent the risk of disability and encouraged collaboration with Civil Society Organizations to help fight stigma and improve leprosy treatment outcomes.

Erei Rimon, the National Leprosy Elimination Program Manager, Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Republic of Kiribati, spoke about the small island nation in the Central Pacific Ocean with an estimated total population of 119,490. Registered leprosy prevalence per a population of 10,000 is 12.9 percent.

Rimon reported ongoing efforts, such as the capacity building of health staff to detect and manage leprosy and follow-up of leprosy treatment defaulters, leading to a notable reduction from 241 defaulters in January 2021 to 162 defaulters in December 2021.

Das lauded ongoing collaborations, saying that Asia deserves special attention, especially South-East Asia, an endemic leprosy region. Asia is one of six WHO regions, where 127,558 new leprosy cases were detected in 2020 across 139 countries, including India, Nepal, and Bangladesh – 8,629 of these were children below 15.

Despite COVID-19 disrupting programme implementation and a reduction in new leprosy case detection by 37 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, Asia and, in particular South-East Asia, reported an estimated 84,818 cases out of an overall 127,558 cases.

Against this backdrop, Das told participants that S-ILF is dedicated to the socio-economic integration of people affected by leprosy to pull them out of demeaning dependence and earn their livelihoods with dignity.

S-ILF’s core business is to promote business opportunities, providing small loans for businesses and offering scholarships for children from leprosy-affected families.

The participants in the webinar heard heart-wrenching testimony.

“My name is Maya Ranaware, treasurer of the Association of Persons Affected by Leprosy. I am a woman affected by leprosy and cured. (I have) faced and (am) facing leprosy-related challenges. I experienced the most painful stigma from family, loved ones, and society,” she told participants.

Ranaware said this was the life of women affected by leprosy, most of them poor, unable to read and write, and without psychosocial or other critical support systems. She called for increased social awareness to change this trajectory so that women affected by leprosy are not forgotten.

Ranaware’s views were echoed by Yuliati Gowa, Chair of the South Sulawesi branch of PerMaTa Indonesia, who decried myths and misconceptions around leprosy. Gowa cautioned that these levels of misinformation derail efforts towards a leprosy-free world.

Dr Takahiro Nanri, the Sasakawa Health Foundation executive director, moderated a question-and-answer session between the Goodwill Ambassador and participants. This provided an opportunity to explore whether it was possible to eliminate leprosy by 2030.

While this was a grand vision, Sasakawa said it helped keep the leprosy elimination movement on track.

Despite his relentless campaign to eliminate leprosy, Sasakawa says: “I still do not think I have done enough.”

For so long, he says, “leprosy was thought of as a divine punishment or hereditary or highly contagious. Until MDT transformed treatment, people had this negative image of leprosy that remained in their DNA. We have to do more to remove it.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Women harvest wheat. Bangladesh. Credit: Scott Wallace / World Bank Photo ID: SW-1BD11010

By Stephen Devereux
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Mar 25 2022 (IPS)

The situation in Ukraine is first and foremost a humanitarian crisis, and the food security and wellbeing of the people of Ukraine should be our immediate concern. However, because of the dominant roles of Russia and Ukraine in global food, fuel and fertiliser markets, there are also massive knock-on effects for people around the world. This is particularly true for the supply and cost of food. Here are three ways that the invasion of Ukraine leads to potential risks to food security in other countries.

1. Decline in global food availability

Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe, and Russia and Ukraine have both become major food exporters in recent years. In 2020 these two countries accounted for one third of the world’s wheat trade and one quarter of the world’s barley trade. Ukraine alone exported 15 percent of the world’s maize and half of all sunflower oil traded globally.

Two likely consequences of the ongoing crisis are reduced exports from Ukraine due to disrupted production and trade, and reduced exports from Russia, due to economic sanctions designed to harm the Russian economy. Commercial exports from major ports in Ukraine like Odessa have already been suspended. So there will be less wheat, maize, barley, and cooking oil available on world markets for the foreseeable future.

50 countries depend on Russia and Ukraine for 30 percent or more of their wheat. Many of these are low-income food deficit countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia – such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan and Yemen, which is currently on the brink of famine.

2. Rising food prices

Reduced food supplies will cause food prices to rise. This is in addition to the fact that food prices were already rising before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In February, the FAO Food Price Index reached a new all-time high, partly due to recovery in global demand post-COVID-19, and partly reflecting expectations of imminent disruptions to wheat and maize exports from Russia and Ukraine.

Rising oil, gas and petrol prices will drive food price inflation even further, since food and fuel price movements tend to track each other closely. Because poor households spend a higher proportion of their income on food, higher food prices will affect low-income consumers and low-income countries worst. Bread prices are already rising in countries around the world. In Iraq, poor communities already staged protests about food prices in early March following spikes in the prices of flour and cooking oil in local markets, which officials attributed to the conflict in Ukraine.

3. Food production declines in low-income countries

Russia is the largest global exporter of fertilisers and fertiliser ingredients such as potash, ammonia, urea, and natural gas for making nitrogen-based fertilisers. On 2 February, Russia suspended its exports of fertiliser, ostensibly to protect its farmers. Belarus is also a major exporter of potash fertiliser. On 2 March, the European Union sanctioned Belarus for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions included a ban on all imports of potash from Belarus.

Dozens of countries depend heavily on imports of nitrogen and potassium fertiliser from Russia and Belarus. Many of these are low-income food deficit countries in West and Central Africa. But reduced fertiliser supplies and higher fertiliser prices will also impact negatively on middle-income and high-income countries that import large amounts of fertiliser, such as Brazil, India, the United States and much of Western Europe. Fertiliser prices in the United States have already jumped by 10 percent. Food production could therefore be compromised in many countries across the world.

How bad will it get?

Just how badly global food security will be affected depends on several things that are not yet known at this time. For now, we are left with several short and longer-term questions – many of which governments and global leaders should be considering as part of food security crisis preparation and response.

Firstly, how bad will the war get, and how long will it last? How badly will Ukrainian exports be disrupted? Will sanctions be applied against Ukrainian exports if Russia eventually assumes power over Ukraine, and when will sanctions against Russia be lifted?

Secondly, how high will food and energy prices rise? For how long will the prices remain high? At what new baseline levels will they stabilise after the conflict?

Thirdly, how resilient are global and national food systems? A resilient food system has the capacity to sustainably provide sufficient, appropriate, safe, and accessible food to all people over time, even in the face of shocks and stressors. Can households and nations afford to pay higher prices for food and energy? How quickly can households and nations diversify away from Ukraine and Russia for food, energy, and fertiliser?

Finally, what actions will governments and international agencies take to mitigate the effects? Governments are already scrambling to reduce their dependence on imports from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. What social protection measures will governments offer to affected farmers and consumers? Will countries aim for food self-sufficiency, and reduced dependence on fossil fuels and chemical fertilisers? This could be one positive side-effect.

We don’t yet know the answers to these and related questions. But one thing is certain: sadly, it will get worse for Ukraine and the world before it gets better.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

The writer is Research Fellow at the UK-based Institute of Development Studies and member of its Food Equity Centre.

Young boys stand in front of a damaged vehicle in Sa'ada, Yemen. CRedit: WFP/Jonathan Dumont
 
Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen that hit a detention facility in the northern city of Sa’ada, killed some 91 people and injured dozens more, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said, citing preliminary figures. January 2022

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 25 2022 (IPS)

When North and South Yemen merged into a single country ushering in the Republic of Yemen back in May 1990, a British newspaper remarked with a tinge of sarcasm: “Two poor countries have now become one poor country.”

Described as the poorest in an oil-blessed Middle East, Yemen continues to be categorized by the United Nations as one of the 46 least developed countries (LDCs), “poorest of the world’s poor” depending heavily on humanitarian aid while battling for economic survival.

But the longstanding conflict with neighbouring countries – and a civil war on the home front – have caused immense devastation to a country which, according to the UN, continues to face “the world’s worst humanitarian disaster”.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said last week that more than 10,000 children have been killed or maimed since the escalation of the conflict, between a pro-Government Saudi-led coalition, and Houthi rebels.

The killings and casualties, UNICEF said, was the equivalent of four children every day. These are just the incidents the United Nations has been able to verify, so the true figure is “likely far higher”, said the agency.

As the conflict enters its eighth year, with no end in sight, the London-based humanitarian organization Oxfam said in a new report released March 24, “escalating death, destitution and destruction has left millions of Yemeni civilians facing widespread misery”.

Oxfam Yemen’s Country Director, Ferran Puig told IPS: “The world must not look away while Yemen suffers. This year’s aid program is currently 70 percent underfunded, providing just 15 cents per day per person needing help. So, it’s vital that countries who are usually very generous to Yemen continue their support – otherwise millions will face terrible suffering. “

At a pledging conference for Yemen on March 16, co-hosted by the United Nations and the Governments of Sweden and Switzerland, only 36 donors (out of a UN membership of 193 nations) pledged nearly $1.3 billion. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-conference-2022-financial-announcements-last-updated-16-march-2022

At the UN’s daily press briefing on March 17, one of the questions raised was about the woeful lack of Arab donors – with only Kuwait among the 36.

Asked if the Secretary-General was disappointed, UN Spokesperson Stephan Dujarric told reporters: “We can’t speak as to why certain countries gave more, why certain countries didn’t give; you will have to ask them. What is clear is that, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have traditionally been very strong backers of our humanitarian appeals. In Yemen, we’ve always appreciated that partnership.”

Dujarric also said that Martin Griffiths, the UN’s Special Envoy for Yemen, expressed his disappointment that some of our traditional partners did not give.

“I think what needs to be said clearly is that a pledging conference is there to kind of highlight the need and motivate people to give. But it’s not as if people can’t give after the pledging conference. So, we very much hope that those countries who did not give yet, did not pledge, do so”.

“To speak colloquially, the door to the bank remains open. We hope we still get more pledges… and those who have pledged also convert those pledges into cash as quickly as possible.”

Asked if Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, who are involved in the conflict, have a moral obligation to donate funds, Dujarric said: “We believe that there is a moral obligation on a global scale for those who have the means to help those who most need help. There’s an obligation for global solidarity across the board”.

Meanwhile, the Oxfam report warned that the human cost of the war in Yemen is rising sharply as the conflict enters its eighth year, with the number of civilian deaths increasing sharply, hunger on the rise and three quarters of the population in urgent need of humanitarian support.

The international agency said another year of war would bring unimaginable suffering to civilians ―almost two-thirds of Yemenis will go hungry this year unless the warring parties lay down their arms or the international community steps in to fill a massive gap in the appeal budget.

According to Oxfam, the escalating costs of war include:

— 17.4 million people currently going hungry, with predictions this will rise to 19 million by the end of the year (62 percent of the population and an increase of more than 8 million since the conflict started).

— 4.8 million more people in need of humanitarian assistance than in 2015, the first year of the conflict.

Since UN human rights monitoring was withdrawn in October 2021, the civilian casualty rate has doubled, now reaching well over 14,500 casualties.

— 24,000 airstrikes have damaged 40 percent of all housing in cities during the conflict.

— And during the last seven years, over four million people have been forced to flee from violence.

The Ukraine crisis, said Oxfam, has exacerbated the situation, raising concerns over supplies of grain and cooking oil. Yemen imports 42 percent of its grain from Ukraine and Oxfam has been told prices have already started to rise. In Sana’a bread went up 35 percent over the week that fighting broke out (200 Yemeni Rial to 270 Yemeni Rial).

Oxfam’s Puig said: “After seven years of war, Yemenis are desperate for peace – instead they are facing yet more death and destruction. Violence and hunger are on the increase once more and millions of people cannot get the basics their families need.

“People can’t afford to pump water to irrigate their crops and in remote areas where people rely on trucked drinking water, they can’t afford to pay increased prices meaning they have to use water that is not safe to drink. City dwellers in some areas are experiencing electricity cuts of 10-12 hours a day ―those who have them are relying on solar panels to charge mobile phones and supply a small amount of power.”

He said farmers are unable to afford to transport produce to markets, causing prices of fresh produce to rise even further. Buses and motorbike taxis are becoming unaffordable leaving many unable to pay the cost of transport to healthcare facilities and other life-saving services.

“Health facilities across the country could soon be forced to shut off life-saving equipment because of lack of fuel. During the last few days, local media in Taiz have reported that the Al Thawra hospital has stopped its operations due to the fuel shortage”.

Government employees, he pointed out, have not been paid since the end of 2016. The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with new restrictive regulations has reduced the number of Yemenis able to work in Saudi Arabia and send money to relatives at home.

“And a spiralling currency devaluation means that what little income people may have buys less and less every day forcing Oxfam and other aid agencies to regularly increase the cash transfers they provide to support vulnerable families”.

Civilian deaths and injuries in the conflict have doubled since the UN body responsible for monitoring violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen was removed in October of last year, said Puig.

“There have been over 14,554 civilian casualties since recording by the Civilian Impact Monitoring project started in 2017. During the last seven years there have been over 24,600 airstrikes across Yemen.

In the last few months, shifting frontlines have led to an increase in landmine deaths and injuries around Marib where retreating forces lay them to slow down their opponents. Civilians using mined roads or gathering firewood in contested land are often victims”.

Yemenis faced with these problems are forced to resort to cope any way they can. People live in a cycle of debt, increasing numbers are resorting to begging, the reports points out.

“Yemen desperately needs a lasting peace so people can rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Without peace the cycle of misery will continue and deepen. Until then, adequate funding for humanitarian aid is critical,” Puig declared.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Ten African teams meet over two legs to decide which five nations will be going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November.